there is only a week left to avoid tax hikes and spending cuts that will impact almost every american. tonight it appears democrat senate leader harry reid may take the lead in crafting a comp mice to prevent tax hikes on at least the middle class. the president was in hawaii for the funeral of senator daniel minoli. >>> one of the president's last acts before leaving washington caught some holiday travelers offguard today. grace lee on how an unexpected federal holiday scuttled some christmas vacations. >> i'm really upset. at this point, i don't know what can we do now? just wait. we've been here since 7:30 in the morning. my appointment was at 9. >> reporter: stranded an christmas eve. it was the same story for dozens who were supposed to pick up pass ports today. some had confirmation numbers. >> extremely frustrating and disappointing that i'm not going to be able to see them, not for my wife's birthday or my daughter for christmas. >> reporter: the passport agency was supposed to be open today, but in a last-minute decision on friday, the president declared christmas eve a feder